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Mild Hybrid vehicles in the CRS

News from Moditech Rescue Solutions BV

This month, we have published a new symbol quiz online that you can use to practice with the Crash Recovery System. As a first responder, are you familiar with the symbols for hydrogen or emergency deactivation components? By practicing with the quiz, you will learn to recognize the symbols from the CRS. We also want to draw your attention to the mild hybrid vehicles that are increasingly common on the road. Is this an electric vehicle or not? We also share the details of a recent accident with a Tesla with you so that we continue to learn from each other!

More information can be found in this month’s newsletter!

SYMBOL QUIZ ADDED UNDER PRACTICE SCENARIOSWe have added a new symbol quiz this month. The Crash Recovery System has recently been expanded with new symbols as a result of new vehicle developments.

This quiz can help you keep up to date. During practice evenings, you can try to place the description with the symbols on the empty form and then check them against the answer sheet.

You can find the symbol quiz on our website in practice scenarios. Good luck!

MILD HYBRID VEHICLESWe are seeing the term 'mild-hybrid' more and more often, but what does this actually mean? Today's vehicles contain more and larger power consumers, which makes it necessary for manufacturers to place a second battery next to the 12V battery (on-board electrical system) that supplies the various electrical components with the correct voltage. Examples here are electromechanical suspension systems or start/stop systems. If this extra battery also supports the drive through the dynamo, we are talking about a 'mild hybrid'.

The second (48V) battery is clearly visible in the CRS image of the Audi A8. Information on the functions that this battery provides the vehicle with can be found by clicking on the battery and it differs per vehicle.

CAUTION: Even though the second power supply is not connected to the SRS system, it must still be disconnected to make the vehicle completely unpowered. If it is not possible to disconnect the battery, it is necessary to take this into account when working on the vehicle. You can find this information in the Crash Recovery System!

IMPORTANT: This battery has a voltage of 48 volts so the legend is adjusted, and the orange colour indicates electronic components up to > 60V.

When 'mild hybrid' vehicles are requested through a registration inquiry you will see that they are registered as Petrol/Electric vehicles. This can cause confusion for the first responder because this is not a fully-fledged drive such as with 'hybrid' or 'plug-in hybrid' vehicles. This is the result of how the vehicles are registered in the vehicle registry. It is important in this situation that the first responder takes in the information given in the Crash Recovery System before he/she takes action. Know what is in it!

CAUTION: This only applies to editions in which a registration inquiry is possible.After requesting the registration number, the first responder receives the notification that it concerns an electric vehicle. After selecting the vehicle, the image appears showing that it is a 'mild hybrid' vehicle. This can be recognized by the yellow color of the second power supply. Batteries used for hybrid drives are colored orange after all.

A SITUATION IN PRACTICEThe Zaanstreek-Waterland Fire Brigade was called out to an accident in Wormerveer on Thursday 15 March 2018. Particulars: A vehicle with an electronic drive seems to have gone haywire and hit another vehicle as well as a scooter and two cyclists. No people were in the vehicles. At the request of the police, the fire brigade on the spot was requested to secure the vehicle, in this case, a Tesla. The police had doubts about safety because it was a fully electric vehicle and it was considerably damaged during the collision .

Using the Crash Recovery System, the vehicle was looked up and the vehicle’s points of attention were located. To secure the vehicle 100%, the emergency deactivation cable of the vehicle had to be cut. Based on the Crash Recovery System, the step-by-step plan was read aloud to the team that performed these actions. After the deactivation cable was detected, the cable was pulled loose and removed. This resulted in the high-voltage system of the vehicle being switched off. To be safe, the low-voltage system (12V circuit) was also switched off by disconnecting the battery poles of the relevant battery in the engine compartment.

The Crash Recovery System proved to be of great value during the deployment. "Without this system it is virtually impossible to carry out a safe deployment with this type of vehicle" according to Raymond Ceulen, Commander of the Zaanstreek-Waterland Safety Region.

NEW VERSION of CRS for iOS (version 2.32)A new version of CRS for iOS was released (version 2.32) last week. This version is necessary because the current Apple provisioning profile expires on 21 April 2018, so please update your system as soon as possible. The new profile will expire on 23 February 2019. Simply follow the instructions on iCRS (a message will appear informing you that a new version is available) or install the latest software version via Moditech's website.

PLEASE NOTE: If you do not install this update, your CRS installation will no longer work after 21 April. It is not necessary to uninstall the app first. Installing the new version will automatically replace the old one. This is also the last version that supports iOS 7 or lower. Subsequent updates will only be for iOS 8 and higher. If you do not update in time, you can always install the new version via our website using the following link.